Do you think oil tycoons buy out inventors that invent gas saving engines?

Question

You also have to take in mind, how much gas, or combustabale element, does it take to push down a piston??? from one drop, to I miro liter, a nano liter?? Once you find that out, then you can give me my answer..

Answer 1

Well Al Gore didn't mention this in his movie so I'm sure it is not true.

Oh by the way, can you name three oil tycoons? There aren't any. Just oil companies with stock holders and boards of directors. That makes hiding that kind of activity pretty hard.

Answer 2

What I think doesnt matter. Thats opinion.

I think the best answer gives you enough facts to meaningfully come to your own informed opinion.

Most of the science and math of the internal combustion engine was worked out in the 1800's. There are fundamental limits in the way that heat and matter interact, and you are not going to get around those limits.

In macroscopic thermodynamics, the maximum (unrealistic) efficiency you can get from a system is the Carnot efficiency. The "Beyond the mechanical universe" episodes 45,46, and 47 have some simple (accessible & understandable) content about this and you can often find them in your public library or college library video collection.

There are five laws of physics that are categorically consistent. That is to say that there is no evidence at all in any observed phenomena in any field of science that violate these laws. Two of them, balance of energy, and the second law of thermodynamics, are used to derive something called the carnot efficiency of a thermodynamic cycle. This is the max efficiency of a cycle, it is always greater than rankine, diesel, or otto cycles, and the ideal materials used in the model dont have the losses of real-world materials.

For automobile engines the carnot efficiency is about 30% so it doesnt matter if you have magic pills, run on hydrogen, or inject water into the cylinders, you arent going to be extracting more than about 30% of the energy. Typically you are going to be getting about 65-85% of the Carnot efficency (due to real materials, and real losses).

If any inventor finds anything that is true science, that violates one of the five laws, then instead of making a "gas saving engine" he should publish in any of a solid number of science related journals and become more famous than einstein and hawking put together. Its a waste of his time to make a motor, and if he understands what he is doing... he will publish.

Oil tycoons are buying out of oil. Read "Hubberts Peak" by Deffeyes, or look at some of the energy scandals where refineries are lowering their capacity. Its a finite resource, and its going away. Back in the day the ROI on oil was 12:1 so oil companies reinvested in themselves. Not so today. They are radically diversifying their portfolios because they arent as internally profitable.

Pure electric isnt the solution either. It takes chemical energy to charge the battery.. that chemical energy is transformed to electrical energy through a thermodynamic process. Fuel Cells, would be nice but they are very sensitive, not very responsive, and require catalysts that are 4 or 5 times more expensive than gold. They can work.. but they are going to cost a WHOLE lot more than a gallon of gas.

Answer 3

Good grief, no.

Yes, big oil and rubber interests killed mass tranist in LA and played a role in eliminating the train system in the SF Area (the lower deck of the Bay Bridge used to all trains). And they lobby for THEIR interests, not for the environment or for the consumer. Hence CAFE standards haven't ratcheted up, although it would easy engineering to comply with higher mpg requirements.

But all these tales of a magic carburator that you could bolt on a 4,000 pound 1974 Chevy and suddenly get 80 mpg are BS. Gasoline engines have some inherent limits to their efficiency. That can be tweaked in various ways, but it takes money to retool for those small improvements.

There are straight forward ways to save gas - reduce vehicle weight, engine size, low-rolling friction tires, aerodynamic styles. Mostly reducing vehicle weight and engine size. But Americans keep buying 7,000 pound SUVs with big engines. You can buy 50-60 mpg vehicles in Europe that aren't hybrid or anything weird. Just a little tight for 5 people and they take a while to accelerate.

Auto companies look for good investments. GM and Ford have mostly been betting on SUV profits. Toyota is doing that too, but also invested in hybrid technology and is doing very well in the market with that now.

I think we should place punitive taxes on over-sized vehicles. Anything to reset the bar at a more reasonable level.

Answer 4

Consumer Reports, and all of the car magazines must be in on the conspiracy too, because they regularly test all those "inventions" and never find a single one that is of any value whatsoever :-)

It's not rocket science: you burn the fuel as efficiently as you can, and it propels the car as far as it can considering the weight of the car and the various frictions in the system. The way to better mileage is to drive slower (50-60 mph) and drive in a fashion where you won't have to hit the brakes. If you have to hit the brakes a lot and won't change your style, get a Prius so the braking recharges the battery.

Answer 5

I'm sure they do. I've long wondered why we don't have more technology coming out in that regard. I think big buisness has done all it can to supress research on alternative fuel.

Answer 6

No, it's bullshit. If someone tells you that ask them which tycoons own the rights to which engines.

Answer 7

I thought everyone knew that.

Go see "Who killed the Electric Car?" if it hits a theater near you.

That should shed some light on your question.

Answer 8

appeartly the oil tycoons have the rights to all the engines that run on stuff that isn't oil..
water cars and such..

fishy isn't it?

Answer 9

Thats been the rumour for decades. True or not, who knows.

Answer 10

YES, CAPITALISM SUCKS